Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. DeMille

Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. DeMille : Cecil B. DeMille has often been reduced to a caricature: a hack who made empty epic spectacles, a right-winger and McCarthy supporter during the blacklist, and a tyrannical director who abused his actors. Scott Eyman instead presents a balanced account of a remarkably rich life. Eyman is the first biographer to have access to DeMille's letters and other personal papers for publication. Eyman settles for nothing less than the real man, as he did in his biographies of John Ford and Louis B. Mayer. The result is a unique history of Hollywood's earliest years and the rediscovery of a major filmmaker.